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Question following a conversation in work

With regards to unsecured debts, can a lender force the sale of property in order to pay these of? I always though they could, but according to my colleague, they cant - as the property (ie house) is now yours, and its not upto you to pay someone elses debt.
No Longer works for MBNA as of August 2010 - redundancy money will be nice though.

Proud to be a Friend of Niddy.
no idea what my nerdnumber is - i am now officially nerd 229, no idea on my debt free date

Comments

  • Sea78
    Sea78 Posts: 6,185 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    Hi

    I'm not sure - I don't think so, but they can put a charging order ont he house whereby part of the sale of the property if you were to sell would be theirs. I don't think they are ableto make you intentionally homeless, but I could be wrong!
    CCCS DMP:Feb 07
    Total:£37,016.47 now £0 DEBT FREE FEB 14

    2022 Decluttering Campaign 49/1011
  • livinginhope
    livinginhope Posts: 1,897 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    The answer is yes and no,you cannot be forced to sell a house for an unsecured debt,however,if you make no attempt to repay an unsecured debt,the creditor could take you to court and issue a CCJ,if you then default on this,a charging order can be put on the house,changing the debt from unsecured to secured,the creditor can then force you to sell the house to reclaim their debt,but once the charge is there,they don't often force a sale.
    Debt at highest £102k :eek:
    Lightbulb moment march 2006
    Debt free october2017 :j
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  • oscar52
    oscar52 Posts: 2,272 Forumite
    How can you be issued with a CCJ when the debt isnt yours.

    Maybe I can make myself clearer. The situation would be that the relative (or other person) passes away, leaves the house to you. Can the lender force the sale for repayment. If they can get a charging order, is there a time limit to these? - ie do they expire?
    No Longer works for MBNA as of August 2010 - redundancy money will be nice though.

    Proud to be a Friend of Niddy.
    no idea what my nerdnumber is - i am now officially nerd 229, no idea on my debt free date
  • livinginhope
    livinginhope Posts: 1,897 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Sorry oscar,don't know the answer to that,i would like to think that the debts die with you,but that is probably me just living in hope as usual LOL!
    Debt at highest £102k :eek:
    Lightbulb moment march 2006
    Debt free october2017 :j
    Finally sleeping easy in my bed :A
  • Sea78
    Sea78 Posts: 6,185 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    Ah right, I'm not sure about that at all - might be worth checking with CAB if it's an issue?

    Sea xx
    CCCS DMP:Feb 07
    Total:£37,016.47 now £0 DEBT FREE FEB 14

    2022 Decluttering Campaign 49/1011
  • oscar52
    oscar52 Posts: 2,272 Forumite
    not an issue now - was a few years ago.

    Just wanted to prove my mate in work wrong! (and find out for definate)
    No Longer works for MBNA as of August 2010 - redundancy money will be nice though.

    Proud to be a Friend of Niddy.
    no idea what my nerdnumber is - i am now officially nerd 229, no idea on my debt free date
  • tallyhoh
    tallyhoh Posts: 2,318 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Are you saying that the debt belongs to the person who then passes away & leaves the house to you?

    In that case the house would form part of the estate & they could come after you for the money.
    Tallyhoh! Stopped Smoking October 2000. Saved £29382.50 so far!
  • tyllwyd
    tyllwyd Posts: 5,496 Forumite
    From what I can see, tallyhoh is right - once the debtor dies, the debt has to be paid out of the estate, which includes assets such as property. They aren't asking you to repay, as such, because at that point the house doesn't belong to you, it still belongs to the deceased's estate. If the deceased didn't have enough money or assets to repay the debt in full even after the property had been sold (and there was no other connection that would make you liable), they wouldn't be able to chase you for the money.
  • calleyw
    calleyw Posts: 9,896 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    tyllwyd and tallyhoh are correct.

    If there are not enough liquid assets to pay off the deceased debts then property would have to be sold.

    But as tyllwyd said as you don't own the assets until probate is granted then they would not come after you.

    They can only come after you if it was a joint debt.


    Yours


    Calley
    Hope for everything and expect nothing!!!

    Good enough is almost always good enough -Prof Barry Schwartz

    If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try -Seth Godin
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